The following version of the book was used to create this study guide: Gorokhova, Elena. A Train to Moscow. Lake Union Publishing, Seattle, WA 2022. Kindle AZW file.

Sasha was born in Russia shortly after World War II. She grew up in Ivanovo, a town that – like most at that time – had an enormous cemetery filled with the casualties of that war. Sasha lives with her mother Galya, who is a doctor, and her maternal grandparents. Her Uncle Sima is among the soldiers buried in the cemetery. Sasha believes her father is another casualty of the war; but, then she learns through neighborhood gossip that her father had another family and died of TB.

As a child, Sasha's best friends are two boys – Marik and Andrei. Marik is from her social class but Andrei's parents are common laborers. As they age, Sasha is aware that the rivalry between the two boys is heating up. As a young teen, Andrei finds a live ammunition round. He gives it to Marik, taunting him to throw it into the fire. Sasha recognizes the danger and runs away, returning only when she hears the explosion. Marik dies a short time later, and the death is ruled as an accident. Over the next few years, Sasha and Andrei become closer, spending hours kissing near the woods where Marik died. They never talk about his death, and Sasha imagines that Andrei never feels the guilt she feels.

Sasha has an epiphany about being an actress when she hears a play on the radio. She is also caught up in the story her Uncle Kolya tells through a journal that was delivered to his family by another soldier. Kolya has been missing and assumed dead for years. Sasha does not tell anyone about her plans to study drama and become an actress until she nears the time to leave. Her mother berates her, and Grandpa beats her. Nevertheless, Sasha refuses to reconsider her plan. Andrei is furious. By then, he has become involved with the Party. Apparently, his parents die in what is a horrible accident. Years later, Sasha learns that Andrei killed his father in retaliation for his father having killed Andrei's mother. Andrei reveals that he killed his father to his Party boss. Later, his boss uses the information to force Andrei into marrying his daughter.

Though Sasha is successful throughout drama school and lands a few good roles along the way, she never receives approval from Galya (her mother) or Grandpa. She knows that Grandma is the only person who truly applauds her efforts. Sasha's success is limited by the Party's sanctions against anything that fails to lead the people toward the “glorious future.” When she encounters Andrei occasionally, she learns that he is following her career. As a Party official, he would never be allowed to have a relationship with an actress.

Galya arrives in Leningrad where Sasha has an apartment of her own. The two women settle into a chaotic life together. Galya worries that Sasha's actions will result in official reprimands or worse. She says Sasha would have been arrested if she had spoken against the government during Stalin's reign. Sasha is angry at the limitations placed on free speech by her government. When she finishes her part in a play one night, she learns that her mother was taken to the hospital shortly before the play started and died a short time later while Sasha was on stage.

Sasha's discontent with the Theater grows when she is not allowed to return to Ivanovo for Grandma's funeral. There, she finds a letter from Kolya written 12 years earlier. He had been captured during the war. Knowing he would likely be executed for allowing himself to be captured, he went to America instead of returning home. Sasha learns that Grandpa wrote a letter back to Kolya, declaring that the family was ashamed of him. Sasha reaches out to Andrei, the only person she knows who might help her contact Kolya. Andrei immediately places a call to New York, allowing Sasha and Kolya to talk. Andrei tells Sasha about his deep guilt over many of the choices in his life. He arranges for her to travel to America, calling in many favors to do so. As Sasha is on a plane bound for the United States, Andrei retrieves a revolver from his desk. It is one of the many weapons used to execute thousands of Russian citizens accused of crimes against the government. Andrei thinks carefully about where to shoot himself to ensure he dies, and time stops for him.